Warriors waste Kevin Durant's 50-point night in loss to Trail Blazers

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PORTLAND, Ore. ó Warriors coach Steve Kerr returned toward holding his clipboard and leading the huddles. Meanwhile, the Warriors returned toward slow starts and sloppy play. And unlike what they have shown for most of the 2017-18 season, the Warriors could not recover.

The Warriors suffered a 123-117 loss the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, an appropriate development considering the Warriors have openly wished the All-Star break started almost two weeks ago. That moment will start this weekend where Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will all play on Sunday in Los Angeles.

"It’s the same thing that’s accounted for the starts we had in the last month," Kerr said. "The game has got to matter from the beginning. We were careless on both ends. We had bad shot selection. We were careless with the ball. We were careless defensively and we were not getting up on shooters."

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On Wednesday, the Warriors’ talent could not overcome what the Blazers (32-26) offered. The Warriors (44-14) trailed by as many as 20 points. They labored through a 40-27 deficit following the first quarter. And they looked sluggish most of the way.

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Another sign the Warriors were looking ahead to the NBA All-Star weekend? If you are rolling your eyes at that explanation, you are in good company.

"We were in a good frame of mind. I thought we sort of got past that a few days ago," Kerr said. "When you have a month straight of bad first quarter starts, you can’t blame the All-Star break. We were doing that 30 days ago."

This time, the Warriors’ star player pointed at himself for the reason. After all, Curry only posted 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting, while committing seven turnovers.

"I didn’t have much aggression in the first quarter," Curry said. "Against a team that plays the way they do and take the shots they take, if they’re having a good night, you have to take care of the other end of having good possessions and being assertive and making you work on the defensive end."

But the Warriors have met few challenges they could not match. After all, the Warriors overcame large first-quarter deficits to Philadelphia (19) and New Orleans (14,13) and won this season. So it only seemed expected for the Warriors to be within striking distance up through the final moments.

The Warriors could not prevail then, though. As Warriors forward Draymond Green said, "we were fighting an uphill battle."

Durant surprisingly missed an open pull up jumper as the Warriors trailed, 117-115, with 46.5 seconds remaining.

"Once I dribble the ball behind my back, I have to pound the ball a little harder than I did, Durant said. "I pounded it soft. It came into my hands. It moved in my hands. I got to get back into the gym. I’ll get that dribble off the ground and be better next time."

After Portland guard CJ McCollum missed a stepback jumper, Thompson missed a wide-open 3-pointer. After Portland guard Evan Turner made a pair of foul shots, Curry made a pair to cut Portland’s lead to 119-117 with 6.3 seconds left. But after Al-Faroug Aminu made two more foul shots, Durant was called for a turnover for stepping out of bounds after making a 3-pointer.

"I was just trying to catch the ball and make the shot," Durant said. "My court awareness is usually better than that. I got to start working on my curl shot to the corner. That’s hard to curl your feet and then get perfectly behind the line. That’s something that is good to see I stepped out of bounds so I can start working on that now."

Yet, that play became a point of contention because replays appeared to show that Durant’s heels were not out of bounds. That’s why the play reminded Kerr of Sean Elliott’s "Memorial Day Miracle" when the former Spurs forward made a game-winning 3-pointer to secure Game 2 of the 1999 Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Therefore, Kerr asked official Leon Wood if the shot would have counted if the replay showed his foot was not on the line.

"I didn’t get a definitive answer," Kerr said. "I’m not sure. I think you would’ve had to go through the league to confirm the rule. But this is one of those repurcussions and unintended consequences."

Nonetheless, Kerr did not want to harp on one fourth-quarter play. Or the Warriors’ third-quarter comeback fueled by a small lineup that featured Nick Young playing at the expense of Zaza Pachulia, a move that pushed Green to the center spot.

"A game like this, you never look at the end of the game. You look at the beginning," Kerr said. "We were fighting like crazy. But you can’t look at the last two minutes. You look at the first 12.Ē

"Sometimes we may drift off. It’s hard to focus and try to win every possession," Durant said. "It’s definitely hard to try to be perfect. We’re trying to have that next- play mentality and try our best each possession. I’m not saying we’re not going out there and not playing hard. But we may lose focus for a quick second."

And with all that, the Warriors hope the All-Star break will leave them rested and motivated.

"I wouldn’t say we’re going through the motions, but we need to have more of a sense of urgency when we’re out there," Durant said. "They want to play us. Everybody wants to beat us and is excited to play against us. Some guys are going to have great nights against us. It’ll be good to get away for a week. We’ll turn it up a bit when we get back."